Gardens to Open on March 9th, 2019

The date of the opening of the 200 acre estate at Leonardslee Lakes & Gardens is now confirmed as March 9th 2019. We wanted all the friends of the gardens to know as soon as possible.

As background, in November the estate received planning permission from Horsham District Council. This was after a very long delay by the Council, which we have talked about in earlier news posts.

With the granting of permission we have at last been able to start planning the final phase of the essential building works that will enable us to open the estate. These include a new entrance and access road in the estate, a large car park and new reception and ticket office.

The scale of the work required, which is now well underway, has been such that we have been unable to confirm the future opening date, until now.

We first had to assess the building programme, including delivery of materials, site preparation, building and commissioning. All of this is essential to ensure that we can complete the work and receive visitors safely and securely, with maximum convenience for our visitors.

March 9th 2019 is the date that our project team has evaluated as the best time to open. We do not anticipate any further delays or postponements from that date.

In the meantime, we are able to open Leonardslee House at certain times of the day. So do please visit us for dinner atRestaurant Interlude. Also you can enjoy a classic Afternoon Tea in the newly restored mansion and see the results of our considerable investment.

Dining with us is an opportunity to enjoy the unique experience that Chef Jean Delport and his team have prepared for guests. He has produced wonderful menus, featuring superb dishes from the state of the art kitchens that we have installed and recently commissioned.

Guests arriving at the mansion house are greeted in the grand hallway with music from a self-playing piano and drinks in the bar. You are then invited to be seated together with other guests at around 7pm in the restaurant.

As a final note, we will shortly be opening conference and meeting rooms on the first floor of the house. The rooms have been extensively restored and fitted out for use for business meetings, private dining and other events.

We can only apologise to you again for any inconvenience in the delay in opening. Do please book for afternoon tea or dinner (or both!) to see what we have achieved at Leonardslee with your continuing support, for which we are grateful.